Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) / Toyokuni III (三代豊国) (artist 1786 – 01/12/1865)

Yamauba (山姥) on the left, Kaidōmaru (怪童丸) in the center, and Mita no shi (三田仕) on the right - with acrobatic men dressed as animals - possibly from a shosagoto [所作事] performance

Print

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Date:ca 1847 – 1850
Dimensions:10 in x 14.375 in (Overall dimensions) Medium:Japanese woodblock print
Inscription:Signed on left and right:
Ichiyōsai Toyokuni ga
一陽斎豊国画
In center: Kōchōrō Toyokuni ga
Artist's seal: toshidama
Publisher: Yamaguchiya Tobei
(Marks 591 - seal not listed)
Censor seals: Mera and Murata
Links Library of Congress - right and left panels only
British Museum - Shunkō print
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - Toyokuni I diptych with actor as Mita no Kakae
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - Toyokuni I triptych with actor as Mita no shi
National Diet Library - Toyokuni III triptych for comparison Description:In a 1785 print by Shunkō in the British Museum it shows the three main characters represented in this triptych. It identifies the figure of the old man on the right as "...Shibakari Mokuemon, in reality the god of Mt. Ashigara..." We have added a link above to that print for your viewing.

In two prints in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston this character 三田の仕 is described under two variant names: Mita no shi and Mita no Kakae. Both links are shown above.

For good measure, we have added a triptych by Toyokuni III at the National Diet Library for comparison. This is to emphasize the fact that many images were created placing these three main figures together in the same composition.
Related entities Yamaguchiya Tōbei (山口屋藤兵衛) (publisher)
mitate-e (見立て絵) (genre)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)

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